Contact cooking, often referred to as "toasting" or "grilling", of food products such as dough products, for example breads, rolls, bagels, muffins and buns (hereinafter collectively referred to as "buns"), is known in the commercial food industry. It usually involves compressing one or both pieces of a sliced bun, cut surface down in contact with a surface heated at a high temperature for a time sufficient to heat the interior of the bun to from about 150.degree. F. to about 170.degree. F. This is done to dry and carmelize the cut surface(s) of the bun. Carmelization is desired because it provides a visually appealing, at least partially bonded surface texture which crunches when bitten. The bonded surface also seals the cut surface which prevents juices from the food and moisture from condiments from entering the interior of the bun and rendering it soggy.
Conveyorized food cooking apparatus is useful to cook a variety of food products including buns, hamburger patties, and the like. Conveyorized cookers have used either a single conveyor or two or more conveyors to convey food products along a cooking path which is heated by a heater. Single conveyor cookers generally have a stationary heated platen disposed along a cooking path. A conveyor belt is disposed spaced apart from the platen by an amount that allows a food product to be engaged by the conveyor belt and conveyed along the cooking path in engagement with the platen. Typically, different halves of a bun have different widths and require different belt to platen separations or gaps. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,530,276 and 5,673,610 disclose contact toasters of this type that have a pair of toasting chambers separated by a centrally disposed platen to define separate cooking paths in each chamber. One of the chambers has its cooking path height set to toast the heel half of a bun and the other chamber has its cooking path width set to toast the crown half.
The conveyor belt is operable to engage the bun at a food product inlet and convey it under pressure slidingly along the surface of the stationary platen. The leading edge of a bun tends to roll or fold under as it is dragged by the belt across the stationary platen surface. This results in the bun becoming mangled or disfigured. In addition, a rolled under bun does not stay in complete contact with the platen, thereby resulting in uneven carmelization. Moreover, incomplete bread to platen contact results in poor heat transfer so the bun temperature is lower so as to affect the carmelization process.
Two conveyor belt cookers generally employ two spaced apart conveyor belts to form a separation gap along the cooking path. The moving belts engage or grip the food products on opposite sides which tends to avoid the disfigurement of the food products. U.S. Pat. No. 3,646,880 discloses a food cooker of this type. The belts are endless with good heat transfer properties. Separate heaters are disposed within the endless belts along the cooking path for two sided cooking.
A technique of controlling temperature is provided so that the food product is cooked at high temperature as it enters the cooking path and at lower temperature as it progresses toward the exit of the path. This is accomplished by providing for each conveyor belt first and second heating platens end to end along the cooking path to define first and second heating zones along the cooking path. As the food product travels along the cooking path, it passes through the first zone and then the second zone. The two heating zones are controlled to apply heat of greater intensity and temperature in the first zone in the early stages of cooking and heat of lower intensity and temperature in the second zone as the food products become partially cooked. This technique is expensive as it requires two separate heaters for each conveyor belt.
Conveyorized food cookers generally include a base and two upright frame walls to which the conveyor belt assemblies and/or platens are mounted. This type of construction generally requires numerous parts that involve high cost of parts and labor to assemble. In addition, the use of two frame walls prevents easy access to the conveyor belt assemblies for cleaning and maintenance. As a result, the belts and/or platen are cleaned or maintained in situ with some difficulty because of limited access to the surfaces. Some food cookers have employed endless belts with seams that can be unfastened for removal and then refastened for reinstallation. Removal is difficult and takes considerable time, resulting in considerable down time.
It is a main objective of the present invention to overcome the above and other limitations and disadvantages of conventional food cooking devices.
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved electrical heating platen for a food cooking apparatus.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved food cooking apparatus that achieves variable heat intensity and temperature cooking with a single platen.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a food cooking apparatus that is easy to assemble.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an improved food cooking apparatus that permits easy removal and installation of conveyor belts at the factory or in the field.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a food cooking apparatus having at least one conveyor belt assembly that is easily and quickly removable for cleaning and/or maintenance purposes.